


Priority Override

by stepantrofimovic



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, Comfort/Angst, Conditioning, Consent Issues, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Love Conquers All, Multi, Non-sexual, Other, Partial Mind Control, Tumblr Prompt, but it doesn't always make things easier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-14 23:24:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5762983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stepantrofimovic/pseuds/stepantrofimovic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If it weren't for the huge, Finn-shaped problem currently sitting in the next room, Rey thinks, the most interesting thing about all this would be just how badly Poe is reacting."</p><p>When the trio gets captured, the First Order attempts to reset FN-2187 to factory default. Unforeseen consequences ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Priority Override

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this prompt](http://fanfic-obsessed.tumblr.com/post/137445289070/ok-so-this-is-my-first-time-giving-a-prompt) by fanfic-obsessed on Tumblr. (Partial spoilers in the prompt.)
> 
>  **Warning:** this fic deals extensively with conditioning and (an indirect form of) mind control. There's surprisingly little graphic detail for a fic that's based off that premise, but still, please take care if any of this bothers you. You can find a summary of the issues in the original prompt if you're not sure if you want to proceed -- and, of course, you can always ask me for further clarification.  
>  **NB None of the consent issues are sexual in nature** \-- there's no sex in this fic at all, in case you're worried.
> 
> A/N on pairings: I deliberately left the relationship between Finn, Rey and Poe in this ambiguous. Personally, I'd read this as queerplatonic, but I don't think it's much of a stretch to see them in a romantic relationship here.

If it weren’t for the huge, Finn-shaped problem currently sitting in the next room, Rey thinks, the most interesting thing about all this would be just how badly Poe is reacting.

“What do we do, Rey?” he whispers, pressing his face against her shoulder to hide what looks (and feels) suspiciously like tears. “What do we do?”

As it is, Rey can only lay her hand on the back of his head and pretend he can’t hear the way her own heart is beating wildly in her chest.

“We’ll figure it out.”

***

It had started with the three of them being captured by the First Order. In retrospect, nothing good could start with them being captured by the First Order.

(Except that was how Poe and Finn had met in the first place, and everything else had spiraled from that. That and BB-8. Maybe it was the lack of BB-8 in the equation that made things go wrong this time.)

They’d been reckless. Rey could almost hear Master Skywalker’s voice in her head telling her just that. They’ve been reckless, and now they’re stuck in a holding cell together, waiting for someone to – pass judgment on them? Hand them over to Kylo Ren? Kill them straight away? At this point, none of them is sure what will happen.

If asked to pick an alternative, Rey wouldn’t be able to say which one sounds more appealing.

In the meantime, Poe has apparently decided to wear a trench into the floor of the cell by means of pacing. He must have traced the same path about a thousand times by now. Finn, for his part, is standing as far from the door as he can, his back pressed against the wall. When Rey looks at him, she notices that he’s shaking.

That’s the moment when she realizes that if any of them is in a position to be truly terrified, it’s Finn.

She doesn’t have time to dwell on that thought, however, or to try and find a way to reassure Finn, because right then the door of the cell whooshes open, and a stormtrooper in a shining chrome uniform strides in, followed by two orderlies. Finn, if possible, shrinks into the wall even more.

The highest-ranking stormtrooper (Finn has told enough about his past life to Rey and Poe for them to recognize her for what she is) barely spares a look at the three of them before turning to the orderlies.

“Bring the prisoners in for interrogation.” This time, it’s Poe’s turn to shudder and go pale. Rey, for her part, feels a faint, irrational glimmer of hope that the First Order may not know who they are. The next words from the stormtrooper smother that hope instantly.

“FN-2187 will be taken for reconditioning.”

“No,” Finn whispers. “No. No!”

As they’re led down the hallway in opposite directions, Rey and Poe can hear him screaming.

***

They take them to another, bigger cell (or maybe that’s just a room – after all, Rey has no idea what a room other than a cell on a First Order ship is supposed to look like, and the guys don’t seem terribly keen on interior decorating) and strap them onto two chairs, each of them identical to the one Rey remembers from the first time she was captured. Then they leave them alone for what feels like hours – enough that she starts to doubt that they’ve forgotten about them.

Poe sits still for the whole time they’re left to themselves. His eyes are screwed shut, but Rey can see his hands clench and unclench under the restraints. He seems to be struggling to keep his breathing in check, but he shook his head when she asked if he wanted her to talk to him, so she assumes he prefers to be left alone. It gives her time to draw up a plan for their escape that might even work, if only she managed to get herself and Poe out of the chairs. But she can’t do that as long as there’s no one she can Force-persuade into it, so she waits.

In the meantime, she tries not to be scared that Poe seems to have lost all traces of his cocky exterior from the moment they set foot on the First Order ship. And, of course, she tries (and fails) not to think about Finn.

The long wait ends when the same stormtrooper officer from before enters the room. This time, there’s three soldiers behind her.

Rey’s first thought is, _damn it, too many_. Her second thought is that the third trooper looks terrifyingly familiar. A glance at Poe lets her see the same fear mirrored in the pilot’s eyes.

“Kylo Ren wants the scavenger girl to be brought to him,” the officer says, curtly. Then, motioning towards Poe, she adds, “We have no use for this one.”

She seems to stop for a second, as if she’s thinking. Rey would give anything to be able to see her expression as she steps aside and turns towards the third stormtrooper.

The one who’s exactly as tall and carries himself just like Finn.

“FN-2187,” she calls, and Rey can feel her heart skip a couple of beats. From his chair, Poe lets out an audible breath and closes his eyes.

“Yes, ma’am.” Finn’s voice is… oddly blank, under the distortion caused by the helmet. Rey has never heard him sound like this.

She _does not want_ to hear him sound like this, _ever_.

She forces herself to keep calm, reaching for the loose strands of the Force to center her. It’s hard, almost impossible, but if she concentrates, if she finds the strength, she might even be able to –

“I order you to shoot the prisoner.”

“Yes, ma’am.” With that, Finn – FN-2187 steps forward and places the muzzle of his blaster rifle under Poe’s chin, pushing his head back at a painful angle.

Poe, Rey notices, has opened his eyes again. He’s staring at – no, that’s not Finn, that cannot be Finn, it can’t.

She can’t to anything but watch as the stormtrooper’s finger tighten on the trigger of his blaster. Any moment now, and he will fire.

She doesn’t realize what she’s doing until she finds herself struggling against the restraints. “Finn!” she shouts. “Finn, no!”

Poe looks straight at the faceless helmet before him, and whispers, “Finn.”

The blaster fires. One, two, three times.

When Rey’s eyes recover from the blinding flash of light (blaster fire in a closed room is _really_ not a good idea), there’s three stormtroopers lying on the floor, and Finn is making quick work of the restraints on Poe’s chair. She looks at Poe, and he grins back at her before standing up and clapping Finn on the back.

“Oh, you were so good! You scared me for a second there, buddy,” he laughs, still a bit shaky. In the meantime, Finn is getting rid of his helmet. He tosses it away in disdain.

They get through the rest of their escape more due to luck (and the fruitful combination of a hangar full of ships and Poe “I can fly anything” Dameron) than anything else. Neither Rey nor Poe have got a firearm (they left the blasters from the fallen stormtroopers behind when the officer, who apparently was not quite as dead as she looked, started shooting at them from where she lay on the floor), so it falls to Finn to cover their flight. Which is more than fine, at least until they’re taking off and Rey turns towards him just to see him sag against his seat.

“Finn! Finn, are you hurt? Talk to me.” Finn mumbles something, but he looks on the verge of passing out. Never mind, he _has_ passed out. “Damn it. Poe, he’s been hit. Can you get out any faster?”

“Not unless I make the jump while we’re inside the hangar!” Poe sounds frantic. Rey can understand. She’s starting to feel Finn’s blood seep out from under her fingers, and he’s wearing full stormtrooper armor. _Shit._

“Well, do something!”

“Rey, it’s not like I can – oh, you know what? If Han Solo could do it, so can I.” With that, he leans on the controls, and the stars around them blur into streaks.

***

They rush Finn to med bay as soon as they’re back on D’Qar. General Organa sends for their reports, but neither Rey nor Poe is willing to leave before they know how bad it is, so she has to wait until one of the medidroids finally tells them that Finn will make a full recovery in a couple of days. When they get the news, Poe finally loses the tense stance he’s been keeping since Finn freed them from the interrogation room. Rey just beams at him and kisses his cheek, while BB-8 runs in circles around them and chirps their approval.

The wait hasn’t made the General happy, as they find out when they finally join her, but hey, at least they know Finn will be okay.

That night, as they’re both sitting under the dim, bluish lights in med bay, Poe rests his head on Rey’s shoulder and murmurs, “He had me so scared.”

“I know,” she answers, and her mind is filled with memories of screaming and thinking Poe was going to die. “Me too. Both of you.”

Poe nuzzles into her neck and doesn’t say anything until morning.

***

Finn does, indeed, recover in a day and a half, his stamina helping the bacta tank along. He emerges from the tank fully rested and eager to follow Poe and Rey everywhere, even though he’s technically exempt (read: barred) from doing anything on base for a week. To his friends’ never-ending frustration, however, his favorite phrase seems to have become “How can I help?”. Or, even more frequently, “Tell me what to do.” Unfortunately for Poe and Rey, he looks so crestfallen when they order him to just sit down and rest that they can’t help giving him some sort of small task to keep him occupied.

In retrospect, all the signs are there. It’s just that neither Poe nor Rey would ever have thought of looking for them. Hindsight, as people say. But really, the signs _are_ there – in the way Finn is uncharacteristically quiet until one of his friends speaks to him, in his willingness to do anything that’s asked of him, whether it’s passing Poe a wrench or helping find a rogue BB-8 who has decided to play hide-and-seek on base _again_.

Still, Rey will try to convince herself after everything becomes clear, they had no reason to suspect that Finn was anything different than his usual, happy, shiny ray-of-sunshine self. He’s as sweet and outspoken in his affection as ever, as opposed to Rey’s customary reserved behavior and Poe’s easy-going smiles and one-armed hugs. He’s only a bit more – eager to please than usual.

In retrospect, Rey feels sick just thinking about that.

***

They only clue in to what’s happening when, on the third day since Finn has been cleared from med bay, Poe gets sent on his first reconnaissance mission. Finn sees him to the hangar for take-off, as usual, and as he’s giving him one last peck before climbing inside Black One Poe can’t help saying, “You wait for me, okay? I want to find you right here when I come back.”

He’s just about to start kicking himself for this uncharacteristic show of neediness (but hey, he guesses he’s allowed that after a scare such as the one Finn gave them), but Finn just beams back at him and answers cheerfully, “Sir, yes sir!”

If the choice of words makes Poe uneasy, he doesn’t think much of it.

***

Four hours later, Rey walks into the hangar just in time to find Jessika arguing with a very upset-looking Finn. “… stand here until they’re back!” is the first thing she hears. Jess sounds – bewildered, worried, frustrated. A number of things, none of which bode well.

“But he said so,” Finn answers in a plaintive voice, just as Rey rushes to his side.

“Who said what?” She’s slightly out of breath just from running across the hangar. And to think training with Master Skywalker is supposed to boost her stamina.

Finn turns to her like she’s his savior. She won’t admit to that, but it warms her heart a little every time. “Poe ordered me to wait for him.”

And, okay, that doesn’t make any sense. “Poe ordered you – ?”

“He said to stay here until he comes back.” Finn is starting to look even more distressed now.

“He’s refusing to move,” Jessika butts in. “And by ‘move’, I mean he won’t budge an inch. Poe left hours ago and he’s been standing here at parade rest the whole time.”

Maybe it’s Testor’s word choice, but that’s the moment when it dawns on Rey. All of a sudden, Finn’s behavior since they came back starts to make sense. She feels bile raise up her throat ( _Quiet_ _your mind_ , the memory of Master Skywalker’s voice whispers in her ear) as she turns towards Finn. She speaks to him slowly, as if he won’t understand.

“Let me make this clear. Poe asked you to wait for him here, so that’s what you’re doing?”

“Yes,” Finn answers, sharp and focused. “I’m doing as I was ordered.” In his voice, Rey can hear the same blank inflection she remembers from their time in the interrogation room. _Force help me._

Then another, even more terrifying thought strikes her. “And if I were to order you to leave right now?”

At that, Finn starts to shake. “I’d –” He has to swallow before he can continue, but his voice comes out choked all the same. “I’d very much prefer if you didn’t do that. Please.”

It doesn’t matter how Rey feels right now – her answer when faced with Finn’s distress will always be the same. “No, it’s okay,” she shushes him. “You wait for Poe here.” Finn immediately looks relieved. Rey can feel Jess staring at the two of them. “But as soon as he comes back, we’ll have to talk.”

“Yes, Rey,” Finn nods, and it sounds so much like _Yes, ma’am_ that Rey wants to scream.

***

Poe comes back. Poe freaks out. Honestly, Rey should have expected that.

“So what you’re saying” – he’s practically shouting, which is not something that happens often with Poe Dameron – “is that whatever that reconditioning thing was supposed to do, it – brainwashed Finn into our slave or something?”

She flinches at his words, and Poe immediately deflates. “I’m sorry. Sorry, sorry, Rey. But it – it can’t be.”

“Do you want to try? Give him an order and find out? Because I know I don’t.”

“No, me neither. But we need to do something about this.”

“I know.” Rey pretends that her voice isn’t breaking, and thankfully Poe doesn’t call her out on it. “But I don’t know who to ask for help.”

“You could start with me,” General Organa’s voice says from the doorway.

“You can help?” Rey asks, in clear disbelief. She can practically feel Poe’s inward groan at her outspokenness.

The General, always unfazed, gives her a small smile. “Maybe. Will you come to my quarters? There’s more privacy in there.”

The two of them follow her, hoping against hope that she has some sort of answer.

***

The General stays silent as Rey and Poe go over the events of their capture again. In the end, she just nods gravely.

“We always supposed that the First Order had some sort of way of controlling stormtroopers,” she starts saying, slowly. “I guess you just stumbled upon that.”

“You mean Finn is really under – mind control?” Rey has been the only one speaking for a while, Poe having fallen silent after mentioning how much Finn looked scared when the stormtrooper officer had mentioned reconditioning.

“Something like that, yes. Closer to conditioning than Force persuasion, I’d say.”

“So why didn’t he kill us when he was ordered to?” Poe speaks up again, voice rough.

“Because something over-rid the conditioning,” Rey answers in General Organa’s place.

“Exactly. And, whatever it was,” – at that, the General gives them a look that suggests that she knows exactly what it was – “it made Finn default to you two as his – superiors.”

Poe jerks upright at that. “I’m not Finn’s superior.”

“I know, Dameron. Sit down, please.”

Poe obeys, and immediately starts nervously chewing his nails. Rey has to resist the urge to smack his hands away.

“How do we reverse it?” she asks, instead.

“I don’t know,” the General muses. “As long as we have no idea what kind of technique was used on him, we can’t work on that.”

“Then ask him.”

General Organa glances at Rey in what looks a lot like surprise. “You’re right. Could you two send him to me?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

***

The General doesn’t look much happier after talking to Finn. If possible, it makes Rey worry even more.

“What did he say?” Poe asks as soon as they’re let in. The two of them have been sent out of the room while the General spoke with Finn, and now their positions are reversed, with Finn waiting outside.

General Organa shakes her head. Out of the corner of her eye, Rey sees Poe flinch. She reaches for his hand, but he moves away.

“It’s not Force-based, and I don’t know how it can be undone,” she states bluntly. “I’m sorry.”

“There has to be a way,” Poe forces out between gritted teeth. “He broke his conditioning once!”

“Stormtroopers are conditioned since birth, Dameron. And the system is based on rewards and punishments, judging from what Finn managed to tell me. Which means that anything you do that makes Finn feel better or worse is likely to reinforce the conditioning. As I said, I’m sorry.”

“No,” Poe insists. “We can – no, okay, I got this. It’s like – like the way BB-8 is programmed to answer my commands.”

“BB-8 is programmed to obey you?” Rey turns to him. “I thought they were free!”

“Mostly, yeah, but an astromech droid is still programmed to answer to urgent commands by their pilot. It’s the only way to make sure things will work in-flight.” Rey’s face must convey exactly how she feels about this, because Poe barrels on. “I assure you, I like that about as much as you do. Which is why I never give BB-8 a direct order unless I absolutely have to. If I need anything, I always ask them.”

It’s true, Rey realizes, thinking back at the interactions she’s witnessed between Poe and BB-8. Maybe, just maybe, if they could do the same with Finn –

“It won’t work,” General Organa interjects.

“What?”

“You’re thinking that you can just avoid giving Finn orders, and everything will be fine. But, as I said, his conditioning is very different from BB-8’s programming. He’s been primed to answer to pain and pleasure. Right now, you two are his only reference frame for that. If you’re happy, then that’s his reward. If you aren’t –”

“Punishment,” Rey finishes for her, remembering Finn’s expression when she found him arguing with Testor in the hangar.

General Organa presses her lips together and nods. “As I said, I’m sorry. If it makes you feel better, Finn told me that he’s genuinely happy serving you. I don’t imagine it was the same under the First Order”

It doesn’t make Rey feel any better, of course, and judging by the look on Poe’s face, he feels the same.

“Could – is there any chance that Master Skywalker can help?” It’s far-fetched, but Rey can’t help but trust her Master, even in this kind of situation.

“Maybe,” the General concedes. “But Luke won’t be back on base for a couple of weeks, at least. In the meantime –”

“In the meantime, we’ll have to make do,” Rey cuts her off again. She can feel Poe trembling at her side, and right now she just wants to get him out of the General’s quarters and give him a chance to calm down. As best as he can, at least, given the circumstances. “Thank you, ma’am.”

She all but has to drag Poe out of the General’s quarters, past the room where Finn is waiting ( _shit_ ) and, finally, into another, empty room. When she manages to get a proper look at his face, she finds herself staring into wild, panicked eyes.

“No, no, no. Come on, Poe, come here.”

“What do we do, Rey?” he whispers, pressing his face against her shoulder to hide what looks (and feels) suspiciously like tears. “What do we do?”

As it is, Rey can only lay her hand on the back of his head and pretend he can’t hear the way her own heart is beating wildly in her chest.

“We’ll figure it out.”

***

Finn finds the two of them hugging in the empty room, and he looks so distressed that Rey’s afraid he’ll break down as well.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asks, and never mind Finn or Poe, Rey is the one who’s going to freak out here.

“No! No, buddy, you did nothing wrong. It’s okay, it’s great. I’m sorry.”

As she watches Poe reassure Finn, sees the way Finn’s face clears up as soon as he’s sure it’s not his fault that Poe is upset, Rey can’t help but wonder if they’re really going to figure it out.

***

They’re not going to figure it out.

Rey spends the rest of her day watching Finn and Poe interact, and taking notice of all the times Poe does or says something that makes Finn smile. Every time, a shadow immediately falls over Poe’s face, and Finn goes back to acting skittish and so very un-Finn-like.

For her part, she tries to say and do as little as she can. She feels guilty about that, of course – both on Finn’s account and because it feels like she’s abandoning Poe to his own devices –, but her mind is anything but calm or quiet right now, and even the constant hum of the Force seems to feel different. She’s scared, and she’s angry, and this is not how a Jedi should feel.

Poe finally breaks at the end of the day, when they’re about to retreat to their quarters. As in, Poe’s quarters. Poe’s room, with the bed where the three of them have slept curled up together for the last three days, since Finn came out of med bay, because neither Poe nor Rey could bear to let him out of their sight for a whole night. And Finn hadn’t complained about the change of arrangements, so they’d thought everyone was happy.

_Of course he hadn’t complained._

Rey can feel this same train of thought flicker behind Poe’s eyes. Which is why she isn’t surprised when he pulls back all of a sudden and says, “I can’t do this.”

“Poe?” Finn asks, tentatively.

“No. No, I can’t do this. Go away.” Poe is physically shying away from Finn now, backing up against the door to his room. “I’m – I’m not going to see you for a while, Finn. I’m sorry. I can’t. Will you please just go?”

Finn’s expression as Poe slips through the door is the closest thing to heartbroken Rey has ever seen in her life. Which just makes what she’s about to say hurt even more.

“I think Poe is right, Finn,” she tells him, forcing the words out of her mouth. “You should stay away from us for a while.”

Finn stares at her with the unmistakable glint of tears welling up in his eyes. He isn’t moving, but he isn’t trying to object either.

“That’s an order, Finn,” Rey adds, sadly.

“Yes, Rey.” He walks away.

***

“I know what to do. I’ll order him to kill me. Priority conflict. It’s what broke his conditioning the first time, wasn’t it?”

Rey munches listlessly at a slice of bread. While Poe seems to have regained some of his optimism overnight, despite the dark circles under his eyes, she isn’t feeling much inclined to share his enthusiasm. Maybe it’s the aftereffects of a whole night and morning spent trying to get her mind back into focus. Maybe it’s just the general lack of Finn in her vicinity.

“Based on what he told us, that’s not exactly what broke his conditioning the first time,” she answers. “And it had taken a while before the attack on Jakku to bring him to that point, you know that. If you try this sort of reckless shit, who knows if he won’t actually shoot you. Or straight-up lose his mind.”

Poe lets his eyes drop to his bowl of soup. “I know.” He sounds dejected.

“I’m sorry,” Rey tells him. She’s lost track of how many times she’s said that by now. She’s reaching across the table for Poe’s hand when the clatter of a tray being set down in front of her breaks the silence.

It’s Finn. He sits down on Poe’s left.

“Go away,” Poe says, wearily, not even looking at him.

“No,” Finn answers. Rey, who _is_ looking at him, can see the fear in his eyes as he says that – the glimmer of irrational terror. Still, he goes on. “No, I’m not going away.”

Poe turns to face him, his eyes gleaming with a completely different light.

“Why?” Rey asks. They have to be sure.

“Because it’s not right. Staying away from you – it hurts me. And from what I’ve seen, it hurts you just as well. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I _will_ make it right. You just try and not give me any bullshit about having to stay away from me, okay?”

He started out by looking at them proudly in the eye, but towards the end of his little speech he’s staring down at his tray, biting his lower lip in embarrassment. Poe, for his part, is looking at him like he’s the most beautiful sight in the whole Galaxy. Right now, Rey is pretty sure her expression mirrors his.

“I think we have some explaining to do,” she says, voice wobbly with unexpected tears.

“Yeah,” Poe nods, now beaming openly. “I think we do.”

***

It’s not easy, it turns out, to tell Finn the whole story about what happened. What scares him the most, Rey thinks, is the fact that he remembers all of it, but he isn’t always sure he can tell the difference between how he felt before he broke the conditioning and now. It makes her wonder how hard it’s been for Finn to cope with the memories of his previous conditioning in the past few months.

She makes a mental note to ask him about it, as soon as they’ve recovered from this. It’s both the fact that they’ve made so many mistakes in handling this that gives her pause, and the possibility that a stormtrooper’s conditioning is much easier to break than they thought. She wonders how many of Finn’s comrades have ever tried to do the same thing he did. She wonders what happened to them.

For the moment, however, there’s nothing better to help assuage all their fears and worries than curling up together in Poe’s too-big bed for a cuddle and some much-needed mutual comfort. And if General Organa makes sure that they’re not disturbed for the rest of the day and until the next morning, well, none of them is going to call her out on that.

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, you can come say hi [on Tumblr](http://stepantrofimovic.tumblr.com/). I'm thinking of opening prompts there as well -- feel free to let me know what you think.


End file.
